In Jiang Wei's memory, when describing someone as highly educated in literary stories, a particular adjective was often used—"bottle-bottom glasses."
Jiang Wei had only read about such glasses in books but had never seen the real thing in three dimensions.
The male protagonist in front of her was now kneeling on one knee, tilting his head slightly upward, and holding a delicate pale blue box between his distinct fingers. Jiang Wei was not attracted by the ring sparkling faintly inside the box but was instead stunned by the glasses perched high on his prominent nose bridge.
The otaku-like bookworm from manga had stepped out of the two-dimensional world and appeared alive in front of Jiang Wei.
The young man before her had pale bronze skin, clean and straight-cut hair, thin lips, and a slightly slender build.
Standing in front of him was a girl wearing a deep blue lolita puff dress, shyly twisting her sleeve. Jiang Wei looked up and finally noticed the strange thing about her.
How should I put it? Compared to the kneeling young man, this girl was a bit... "plump" in figure.
Jiang Wei had seen the dress she was wearing before—it was the costume of a performer in the closing ceremony dance show, with an overall cute and exaggerated style.
The girl's face was round, her eyebrows thin, and her bright eyes shone with a hint of light as she faced the young man's proposal. She bit her lip lightly, her expression slightly shy and restrained, looking charmingly demure.
"Say something! If you don't say anything, how can she accept you?"
The onlookers in the crowd were truly anxious for the male protagonist, who was just kneeling silently.
"I... I..."
The young man's face flushed red.
"Hey, if you don't say anything, I'll propose for you!"
A nearby athletic student joked with a whistle, making the bespectacled young man seem even more flustered. "Don't... don't..."
"Buddy, you're gonna give us a heart attack! You keep saying just one word, even if you repeat it a million times, you'll never get the girl..."
"I'll say... I'll say..."
The young man hesitated, then looked up, his eyes clear and bright.
He tightly gripped the ring box in his hand and gazed at the girl with deep affection. After a long pause, he finally mustered the courage to speak: "I, Shen Yuzhe, a student of the Chinese Literature Graduate Program, have long admired your graceful beauty and thought of you day and night."
The young man's opening line left the entire crowd stunned.
Truly befitting a Chinese literature scholar, even his confession was in an ancient and elegant style.
"I..."
The girl's cheeks flushed red, and her voice sounded strange as she uttered a single syllable...
"Don't reject me yet!" Shen Yuzhe's voice suddenly became urgent, his anxious gaze fixed on the girl as he said in a low voice: "Have you ever heard of the poem 'The Pheasant Seeking the Phoenix' by Sima Xiangru?"
The girl shook her head, but before she could open her mouth, the young man interrupted her again: "No, don't say anything."
Everyone was baffled: So do you want her to speak or not...
The girl was startled into silence and quickly swallowed her words.
"Just stand there obediently, and I'll recite it for you. That's what I want to say to you from the bottom of my heart..."
The young man suddenly stood up, looked up at the sky, slowly pushed his glasses up his nose bridge, and then waved his arms as he recited in a melancholic tone:
"There is a beautiful woman, whom I cannot forget after seeing.
Not seeing her for a day, I think of her like a madman.
The phoenix soars through the air, seeking its mate across the four seas.
Alas, the lovely one is not behind the eastern wall..."
